One Body, One Spirit

Ephesians 4:1–7, 11–13; Romans 12:3–8

What constitutes a great picture? Sometimes people take an extremely wide shot picture. In these pictures, the people are so miniscule you can hardly recognize them. We usually critique these pictures, saying “what they have taken is not really them, but the background.” What we might not realize is that such may be intentional. They really want to emphasize the background more than their selves. If our lives are pictures, then in many of them we are not the center. Many of our life pictures are more meaningful and worth looking at and remembering when it is the background that is emphasized. These backgrounds may be buildings like churches, or places like schools or parks or landmarks. These pictures with these backgrounds tell us that these places are more important than we ever consciously think of them.

What constitutes a great picture? Sometimes we cherish a particular picture not because we are there, but because with us in the picture are people who are close to our hearts. The value of the picture is not dependent on my presence, but in the presence of another. We keep these pictures because they tell us that we are not alone. It is these pictures that usually give us smiles or sometimes tears. It is these pictures that warm our hearts.

Life is composed of many attempts to construct pictures, with different scenarios, variables, characters, and goals. What we did here is only a reflection of what our lives are consists of. But it is not just the “I” who is constructing pictures. We often forget that we too are a part of someone else’s life picture. They are trying to fit us in. We contribute to someone else’s picture, consciously or unconsciously, voluntarily or not. The question is: are we a nuisance or do we contribute to make such pictures beautiful?

What constitutes a great picture? In our game, we constructed pictures. In each picture, we played different roles at different times. These roles are not important in themselves – their importance is grounded in the contribution they make to the picture. Is this not what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:14–26: “Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. … the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”

If our lives are composed of picture-making, then we must accept that fact that we play different roles as we try to contribute to everyone’s life. Sometimes these roles require humility from us, because we are being asked to play less honorable roles. Sometimes we stand, but sometimes someone has to sit on us; sometimes we are at the center, but sometimes we need to lift others up; sometimes are the most important piece, but sometimes we are only supporters to someone else; sometimes we are leaders, but most of the time we are followers. We must be ready to fulfill inconvenient roles––roles that we think are below our rank, degree, or position. How can we do this? Paul said “I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Rom 12:3).

In the body, we fulfill different functions for the sake of the whole. This is why Paul said in Romans 12:3-8: “I… beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift… The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.”